There are nearly 300 Kurdish houses in Kirkuk’s Arafa neighborhood that were built without official authorization. The police have now informed these families they must vacate their homes.
“We are seven families here: my family, and families of my sons and brothers. We have been here since 2003. We have nowhere else to turn to,” said Omar Hasan, a resident.
People who had been forced out of their homes under the Arabization process returned to Kirkuk after 2003. They were supposed to be given pieces of land according to Article 140 of the constitution, which entitles them to compensation. But this was not done. Some settled in 10 newly-built neighbourhoods in the city of Kirkuk, but these new districts do not have official authorization, although there are provided with essential services.
In addition to Kurds, there are Arabs from Basra and Nasiriya living in these neighborhoods, but it appears that only Kurdish families have been issued with eviction notices.
“They informed us that we had to go and leave our place, saying that our place was not authorized. But they only informed Kurdish families. They came to expel us because we are Kurdish,” said Pirshing Mohammed, a resident in Arafa neighborhood.
The governor’s order states that these neighborhoods should be removed and a relevant committee should be formed for this purpose.
Jwan Hasan, head of the human rights committee in Kirkuk provincial council, said: “The decision made by Rakan Saeed [al-Jabouri] is political and intended for election campaigns which he wants to use in Kirkuk.”
Hasan is with the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU).
“I openly told Rakan Saeed what he was doing is not permitted by any means because some people have built these houses at their own expenses. You will be instigating a war in Kirkuk by demolishing their houses,” she added.
The disputed province of Kirkuk came under Iraqi control last October and Jabouri, an Arab, was installed as acting governor in place of the former Kurdish governor Najmaldin Karim.
Kurds have accused Iraqi officials of trying to revive the Arabization process in the city.
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Kirkuk politics in a stalemate as Kurds claim another Arabization
